This invention relates generally to farm equipment and more particularly to tools and methods of repairing the drill boots.
A grain drill is a standard piece of equipment for most farming operations. A standard drill includes a grain box mounted on a frame that is pulled behind the tractor. The grain box is connected to a plurality of boots spaced apart a predetermined width along the frame. Typically, there are more than one row of these boots. The grain box is connected to the boots by means of flexible tubing. The grain box provides a metered amount of grain to the boot via the tubing. At the end of each boot is an opener, which cuts through the ground to create a furrow in which the grain is deposited. At the back end of the drill are a plurality of wheels that are aligned with the openers to press down the furrows after the grain has been deposited therein. Examples of these grain drill presses include the Van Brunt 10.times.14 Model "LZ" Lister-type Drill and the Van Brunt 24.times.7 Model "LZ" Lethbride-Hoe Grain Drill, both manufactured by John Deere.
An exploded view of a boot, a furrow opener and means for attaching the boot to a frame of a drill is shown in FIG. 1. A boot 10 is mounted to a frame of a drill (not shown) by arms 12 and 14. The arms have a first end that connects the arms to the drill and a second end that forms a yoke 15 for holding the boot 10. The boot is pivotally mounted on the yoke by two studs, one on each side of the boot 10 received in bores formed on the arms, such as bore 16 on arm 14. The arms 12 and 14 are held-together by a plurality of bolts 18, 20 and 22. The pressure of the bolts causes the arms to retain the boot therebetween. Because of the amount of force exerted on the boot by the soil, the bolts need to be securely fastened and the arms capable of sustaining this force.
A Lister-type furrow opener 24 is connected to a distal end of the boot 10 by means of two bolts 26 and 28 that extend through openings in the opener 24 and corresponding openings in the boot 10. The Listertype furrow opener 24 is but one type of opener that can be used in conjunction with the boot 10. For example, a hoe opener can be used in place thereof. A seed deflector 30 is mounted inside the boot 10 by a bolt 32 to distribute the seed evenly in the furrow created by the opener 24.
The angle of attack of the boot 10 is set by a wheel 34 pivotally mounted between the two arms 12 and 14 and being juxtaposed to the boot 10. The position of the wheel 34 is set by a pin 36 inserted into one of the plurality of bores formed in the wheel. The wheel 34 has a sloped side 38 which is in contact with the boot 10. The angle of this side 38 is set by bracing the pin 36 against the arms 12 and 14. The angle of the boot 10, which is in contact with the side 38, is set accordingly.
The arms 12 and 14, and thus the boot and opener, are attached to a frame of a grain drill (not shown) by two separate means. First, the arms 12 and 14 are connected to the frame by means of bolts 46, which are secured by cotter pins (shown but not numbered in FIG. 1). Connected only by the bolts 46 and 48, however, would allow the boot to move up and down freely and thus would not have sufficient downward force to maintain the opener in the sometimes hard and rocky soil. Accordingly, a rod 40 is mounted between the frame and the arms to provide the necessary downward force. The rod 40 is mounted between the arms 12 and 14 by means of mounting brackets 42, bolt 20 and bolt 44. A heavy duty coil spring 50 is fitted over the pin 40 to provide some shock absorber action when the opener 24 invariably hits rocky soil.
The boot 10 and opener 24 take a lot of abuse. Because the opener 24 is pulled along underground, it comes into contact with rocks and other large, sometimes immovable objects. As a result, the opener can become bent, which alters the furrow or, worse yet, the opener can become broken.
As a result of this abuse, the openers must be changed frequently. There are several methods to replace the opener. The first is to remove the pin 36 and swing the boot upright to provide access to the opener. The bolts 26 and 28 can then be manually removed by a ratchet or other tool. The problem with this approach is that the bolts become corroded and caked with mud because the opener is usually underground. As a result, the bolts are difficult, if not impossible, to remove manually. In addition, the repairman must get down on his hands and knees, typically in the mud, to access the bolts, even with the boot in an upright position. Another approach is to remove the boot 10 entirely, including the attached opener 24, and replace it with a new boot and opener. The process of removing the boot 10, however, is complicated and time-consuming because of the number of bolts used to secure the arms to the boot and to the grain drill frame. In order to remove the boot 10, bolts 18, 20, 22, 44, 46 and 48 must be removed to allow the two arms to be separated to free the boot 10 of the arms. This is a time-consuming process which is typically done during the heat of the day, and thus consumes valuable daylight, or during the cold and wet season.
Accordingly, a need remains for a method and tool for a quick replacement of drill boots.